Combination fire poker and clinker tong



Aug. 10, 1937. w. E. OWEN 2,089,661

COMBINATION FIRE POKER AND CLINKER TONG Filed Dec. 3, 1936 INVENTOR Wm 75/? f. Owe/v. BY

i//"/ ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 10, 1937 hA'E'ENT COMBINATION FIRE POKER AND LINKER TONG Walter E. Owen, Cleveland, Ohio Application December 3, 1936, Serial No. 114,082

2 Claims.

My invention appertains to the type of poker and tong units which have heretofore been proposed and which comprise largely an ordinary fire poker combined with an auxiliary tong feature whereby the poker device may be conveniently and advantageously employed in its usual way for poking up a fire, and, in addition, may be utilized for readily removing clinkers or foreign matter which may be found in a fire bed of a stove, or fireplace, or elsewhere.

According to the invention, the poker availed of is largely of ordinary construction, comprising the customary handle shank and end prong. The instrumentalities by which the poker is converted into tongs include a jaw member pivoted to the shank adjacent to the prong and a handle device for adjusting the jaw member to an operating position and for actuating it as a claw or like part to cooperate with the prong as an opposing jaw or claw.

Generally speaking, devices such as broadly described above are known in the art, so that the present invention lies in a specific construction of such a device wherein the pivoted body or claw member is specially formed so that when out of use it will lie in alignment with or substantially l in the plane of the shank, the means for actuating said jaw member including a handle rod of novel form shiftable longitudinally of the shank of the poker. This handle or actuating rod is made of spring or resilient metal and by reason of such form is adapted to be adjusted in interlocking relation to the handle of the poker so as to hold the auxiliary jaw or claw member in an inoperative position when out of use. When the jaw member or claw member is in use or to be used, the handle or actuating rod is conveniently operable so that the claw or jaw member may coact o with the prong of the poker to obtain the effective utility of a set of tongs.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side View of a combination poker 5 and tongs device embodying the essential features of the invention, full lines showing the auxiliary jaw or claw and its actuating handle rod as when not being used, and in fact locked out of action, the dotted lines illustrating said parts 50 in their active useful positions and also showing an object, such as a clinker, engaged between the jaw or claw member and the poker prong.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the parts illustrated in Figure 1, according to the adjustment 55 thereof in full lines in the latter figure.

tion may be conventional very largely, because,

so far as the combination tongs feature of the invention is concerned, the latter is adapted to be applied to different kinds of pokers. The poker illustrated, therefore, may be said to comprise the usual shank l, the end handle 2 therefor,

and the end prong 3. The said parts preferably are made in one piece, but this is not a necessary feature of their structure because a composite formation of the poker might be used.

Spaced some distance from the prong 3 is located the transverse pivot 4 passing through the shank l and securing to the shank in a pivotal manner adjacent to the prong 3, the auxiliary jaw or claw 5. The jaw or claw member 5 is made of longitudinal U-form so that the jaw or claw portions 5a thereof may lie at opposite sides and in substantial alignment with the shank I when the member 5 is not in use, as seen in full lines in Figures 1 and 2. The U-form of the member 5 enables the side portions thereof to be spaced apart and to operate at opposite sides of the shank l. v

The connecting portion of the U-member that forms the jaw or claw member 5, or mainly that portion from the closed end to the pivot 4, virtually constitutes a slightly deflected arm for the members 5a, and this arm is connected by the hooked end 5 at the end of a handle or actuating rod 1 to the latter. The rod 1 extends lengthwise in substantial parallelism to the latter and -passes through an eye forming a guide member 8, the latter extending laterally slightly from the shank I of the poker. The eye or guide member 8 is rather closely spaced relatively to the shank I for a purpose which will be seen upon reference to Figure 1.

In the operation of the invention, if the combination device is to be used only as a poker, which will be its customary and most important use, the auxiliary jaw or claw member 5 is disposed as in full lines in Figures 1 and 2 with the claws or jaws 5a embracing the shank l and its parts at opposite sides of the latter. The inner or arm portion of the claw member 5 is limited in its shifting movement in the direction of the shank by the cross or closed end portion b of said member 5. Now it will be evident upon reference to Figure 1 that if clinkers or like obstructions in a firebox, or fireplace or the like, are to be readily removed, the user of the invention may grasp the handle or extension 9 at the end of the handle rod 8 opposite that connected to the claw member 5, raise the handle 9 so as to disengage the same from the innermost portion of the handle 2 of the poker, and then the handle member I is free to be moved reciprocally of the shank I so as to operate the claw or jaw member 5 in conjunction with the prong 3, similar to the action of a set of tongs. The dotted line illustration of Figure 1 shows how the member 5 is caused to cooperate with a large piece of coal, clinker, or similar object which it may be desirable to handle with the combination poker and tongs device.

When the tongs feature comprising the jaws 5a is to be put out of use, all that is required is to spring or raise the handle or extension 9 of the actuating rod 1 and thus cause the part 9 to be inter-engaged over the inner portion of the handle as seen in full lines in Figures 1 and 2. In this manner the part 1 is interlocked to the handle 2 of the poker and the parts I and 5 are held out of use.

The invention is exceedingly simple. The pivot 4 may be a rivet, the part 7 mere rod metal, and the part 5 made of strap metal, all such parts being thus cheaply manufactured so that my invention may be produced at the minimum of cost when applied to almost any type of poker.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a combination poker and tongs, in combination, a poker comprising a shank having a handle at one end and a prong at the other end, a jaw member pivoted to the shank adjacent to the prong for cooperation therewith, a resilient handle rod pivotally connected to said jaw member and movable along the shank to shift the jaw member into a position transverse to the shank for use and into a position longitudinal to the shank when out of use, a guide member on the shank intermediate the handle and the said jaw and through which the resilient handle rod for the jaw member operates, said handle rod being formed with a handle extension shiftable laterally of the shank by reason of the resiliency of the said handle rod and arranged to interengage with the handle portion of the shank for holding the jaw member in an inoperative position.

2. In a combination poker and tongs, in combination, a poker comprising a shank formed at one end with an ofistanding prong and at'the other end with a handle portion, a jaw member comprising'a U-shaped part and pivoted intermediate its ends near the prong so that the opposite sides of the said jaw member are at opposite sides of the shank, one end of the jaw member being laterally deflected from the shank slightly, a handle rod movable longitudinally of the shank and connected to the said deflected portion of the jaw member, a guide part disposed between the handle and prong of the poker and through which the handle rod passes, said handle rod being made of resilient material and provided at its end near the handle of the poker with a handle extension adapted to be inter-engaged and disengaged relatively to the handle of the poker by lateral springing of the resilient material of said handle rod, the handle extension of the handle rod holding the jaw member in an inoperative position when inter-engaged with the handle of the poker and permitting free operation of the jaw member when disengaged from said handle of the poker, through manipulation of the handle rod.

WALTER E. OWEN. 

